From cricketers in Charnwood to hockey players in Harborough, clubs across Leicestershire are represented and promoted by sports alliances.
Now, the county's nine sports alliances are joining forces to provide a boost to the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards.
Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport's local alliances, a collection of people who have a desire to develop and promote sport and physical activity, hold their own annual sports awards.
This year, they will be feeding their winning entries into the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards' nomination process for the first time.
"Celebrating the achievements of local sports stars, clubs and volunteers is vitally important to inspire more people to follow in their footsteps," said Andy Reed, chairman of Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport.
"They show what can be achieved through hard work, dedication and commitment."
Mr Reed said he believed it was vitally important for sports groups to feature in community life.
"Many sports clubs play key roles in their communities and they richly deserve to be rewarded for the work they do," he said.
"The vast majority of people who work in sport at a local level give up their time free.
"Without them volunteering, there simply wouldn't be the opportunities available that there are today.
"You only have to look at the impression made by the volunteers at London 2012 to see what a huge impact volunteers can have.
"The work that has been undertaken by the Local Sports Alliances in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland to hold recognition awards that feed into the Mercury Awards highlights just how important recognising their achievements is."
The dates for the individual sports alliance awards are: Rutland – November 14, at Greetham Valley Golf Club; Blaby – November 21, at Brockington College; Harborough – November 22, at The Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough; Hinckley and Bosworth – November 29, at Bosworth Academy; Oadby and Wigston – November 29, at Leicester Racecourse; Charnwood – December 10, at Loughborough College; Leicester – December 10, at The King Power Stadium; North West Leicestershire – December 13, at Hermitage leisure centre, Whitwick.
The Mercury Awards presentation night, organised by Champions UK, will be held at the Tigers' Welford Road stadium on January 17.
Nominations are open until December 4. Either complete the form on this page or go to:
www.thisisleicestershire. co.uk
